Rosh Hashanah

The Jewish New Year is almost here, and that means it’s time for self-reflection. Thinking about who I am, what I’ve done right, and where I need improvement is one of my favorite parts of this holiday. I love that no matter what we’ve done, God gives us time to reflect and learn from our mistakes. As a person with many flaws, I love there is no end point, or perfect goal we are expected to attain, but rather there is a recognition that we are a work in progress. So while improving myself can seem daunting, just like anything else, I take it one step at a time and try each year to be better. In Judaism, life is full of second chances.

As I get ready for that inner reflection, I also have to prepare for the actual holiday, and that means food! Rosh Hashanah is always celebrated at my house, and this year we’ll have two big dinners. Friday night, the night before the holiday, we go to temple, but before that, we have to eat. My girls are coming home to celebrate with us—and one is bringing her boyfriend—so I have to cook a quick but delicious dinner. Saturday night, the actual day of the holiday, my parents will join all of us as well, so that will be a more leisurely, but hopefully just as delicious, dinner. So today, I’ll pull out my cookbooks and decide what to make while trying to keep everyone’s preferences in mind.

 

Rosh Hashanah is also when we eat round challah. The rest of the year, challah is a regular loaf, kind of a braided oblong. But for Rosh Hashanah, we make it round, to symbolize goodness without end. We also eat apples and honey for a sweet new year. Those two food items are the most important symbolic foods of this holiday.

 

In fact, it was the need to bring a challah to her family’s Rosh Hashanah dinner that led the heroine of my book, Home for the Challah Days, to enter the deli of her ex-boyfriend. His family-owned deli makes the best challah around, and Sarah’s holiday isn’t complete without it. They see each other...and nothing happens. Whoa. Well, something eventually does, but first, they both have to get past their own history and a whole lot of issues before they give their relationship a second chance. 

 

This book is my best-selling one ever. It’s funny, and sweet, and sexy, and handles serious issues, too. If you’re looking for a Jewish romance—or really any romance—I hope you’ll give it a chance. And if you’ve already read it, thank you! Please consider leaving a review on the retail site where you purchased it or on Goodreads.

 

I wish everyone a sweet New Year!

Release Day!

It’s Release Day!

I’m so excited that Home for the Challah Days, my very first book with Harlequin Special Edition, came out today. This book was a long time in the making, and I truly never thought it would get published. Through multiple agents and publishers and rewrites and queries, I always hoped that someday, somehow, Aaron and Sarah’s story would get published.

 

And today, it did! This book is more than just a Jewish romance, more than an enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance trope. It’s a woman’s journey from who she thinks she should be to who she was meant to be. It’s a man’s lesson that responsibility can be shared. It’s a humorous take on age and familial interference. And it’s a look at antisemitism and how community can triumph over evil.

 

I hope you’ll take a look at it, share it with friends, and spread the word. Because I just made one of my dreams come true.

 

Blurb:

Turning the bitterness of the past...

Into a sweet future! 

When big-city advocate Sarah Abrams returns home for the High Holy Days, she's got a lot on her mind--especially whether to marry her perfect-on-paper boyfriend. The last person she wants to encounter is Aaron Isaacson, her first love and the one who broke her heart. But after Aaron and Sarah join forces to fight an act of hate, it's clear that their deep connection never abated. If only they could forgive one another for the past...in time for a sweet new start! 

From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.

Holidays, Heart and Chutzpah

Book 1: Home for the Challah Days

 

Buy Links:

Target: https://www.target.com/p/home-for-the-challah-days-holidays-heart-and-chutzpah-by-jennifer-wilck-paperback/-/A-88760720

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/bONd9K

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Challah-Holidays-Heart-Chutzpah-ebook/dp/B0BN6DFGB5

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/home-for-the-challah-days-jennifer-wilck/1142737912?ean=9781335594228

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/home-for-the-challah-days/id6444678845

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/unlock-my-heart

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Jennifer_Wilck_Home_for_the_Challah_Days?id=N6WdEAAAQBAJ

 

My Books Arrived!

My box of paperbacks from Harlequin arrived this past weekend. Forty-five copies of my book, Home for the Challah Days, and I was more excited than I thought possible.

I’ve written romances before. And I’ve ordered copies of my books before. In fact, I have a whole bookcase filled with my copies that I take with me to bookstores, reader conferences, and festivals. So, you’d think receiving a box of books in the mail would be no big deal.

 

You’d be wrong. 

 

For one, the boxes I’ve received in the past have been ones I’ve ordered. For a discount, but ordered, nonetheless. This box of books was given to me by my publisher as per my contract, and although I’m not allowed to sell these copies (also per my contract), I can keep them, give them away, use them for swag, etc.

 

For another, the actual books are different, too, and no, I don’t mean because they have a different title. They’re smaller—mass-market paperback size (think the size you see in Walmart). The cover is matte. And they even have the inserts in the middle of the book that all/most Harlequins have—truth be told, those inserts annoy me as a reader, but as an author? It means the book is real (to me, at least)!

 

And finally, it means that it’s almost publication day. August 22 will be here before I know it, and my book will be out in the world. This book that I never thought would see the light of day after so many rejections will finally get into readers’ hands. 

 

So, my excitement is real and different from before. If you haven’t seen it, here it is: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorwilckjz/video/7250579556933963050?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7239728539854030379

It's Real

It’s been a while since I last blogged. In fact, probably long enough that maybe there are three of you who still read my blog. Oh well, I’ll write for the four of us. Invite your friends if want.

I’ve been working on the third book in my Harlequin Special Edition series, and like most writers, I’m plagued by, “what if.” What if the book isn’t as good as the other two? What if my editor hates it? What if I can’t make my deadline? But to be honest, those what ifs aren’t going away. Ever. I’m pretty sure they’re just part of my writing process.

 

Even after returning from my lunch with my editor—the first time I felt like a real writer with a worthwhile profession—I still looked at my manuscript, gulped, and thought, “Oh, God.” And I think I’m going to feel that way for the foreseeable future.

 

When I first started writing, and there was nowhere to go but up, of course I was excited. I was inspired and had ideas pouring out of my head. I had the freedom to play with them, to do anything I wanted with them because no one was looking for them. Once I turned this into a business and had deadlines, and requirements, and readers, well, I have to admit, some of my inspiration disappeared. 

 

I’m still writing. I’m still coming up with new ideas, and I still love what I do. Really. Even more so now that I’ve been exposed to people—editors, support staff, marketing people—who depend on me for their business to run. They take me seriously. They’ve given me a necessary piece of support that no one else can, no matter how hard they try. And I’m forever grateful, especially since I didn’t know I was missing it. 

 

But it doesn’t make sitting down at my computer any easier. I know what I need to write. I know where I am and where I want to get to in my manuscript. It’s the process of actually going from point A to point B that’s giving me fits right now. But I’m not giving up. As I say all the time, writing is a muscle, and you need to use it every day if you want to keep it in shape. So I’m writing, getting to know my characters, discovering new things about them two thirds of the way through the book that I didn’t know about them in the beginning (and making notes to go back and fix that beginning when I’m finally finished.).

 

In the meantime, book one—Home for the Challah Days—comes out in two months. It’s actually up for preorder now if you’re interested. I’m ramping up my marketing again, both for that new book and for my backlist—you can see some book recommendations here that I’ve made that will hopefully entice you to buy some of my books. And I’m doing lots of in-person events, including RomantiConn in July, which you can see here.